Area native wins turn to model again

At age 40, Delaware native Cindy Cohen has taken a step closer to securing the modeling career she has wanted since childhood.

She triumphed in the second season of She's Got the Look, a TV Land modeling competition for women 35 and older that wrapped up last night.

At age 40, Delaware native Cindy Cohen has taken a step closer to securing the modeling career she has wanted since childhood.

She triumphed in the second season of She's Got the Look, a TV Land modeling competition for women 35 and older that wrapped up last night.

"I didn't have any expectations," she said of the final elimination. "So it was really exciting."

In outlasting 47-year-old Theresa Kalnins of La Canada Flintridge, Calif., Cohen -- one of 10 finalists at the start of the season -- earned $100,000 and a contract with Wilhelmina Models of Los Angeles.

Her photograph will grace the cover of the September issue of Self magazine (due Aug. 25 in stores).

Cohen, a graduate of Delaware Hayes High School, saw her modeling dream sidetracked two decades ago when she gave birth at 20 to a son.

An abusive relationship set her back -- until she found the strength to move on.

She has rebuilt her life in Los Angeles.

Remarried and working as a life coach, Cohen plans to give a portion of her winnings to shelters for battered women.

She would also like to speak to groups of young women about not giving up on their dreams.

"I hope they'll take from it that, whatever obstacles you have to overcome, it doesn't (limit you)," she said.

Cohen has known about the outcome -- as has her husband, Simon -- since November, when filming of the contest ended.

The secret wasn't easily kept, she said before the finale was shown.

Last night, about 20 friends and relatives gathered at the Dave & Buster's in Hilliard to watch the episode. (Cohen served as a co-host, with Kalnins, of a viewing party in Los Angeles, but she stayed in touch with her central Ohio loved ones through text messages.)

Among those in a private room at the restaurant were Cohen's mother, brother and sister-in-law, and two sisters.

When their favorite contestant was crowned, the room erupted in cheers.

"I'm just so happy for her," her mother, Sherie Day, said as she wiped away tears. "It's a dream come true."